Major companies review their advertising with News of the World

Some of the country’s biggest and best known companies have announced they are reviewing their advertising with the News of the World following the growing controversy surrounding the paper.

Updated: Supermarkets Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys are said to be reviewing their advertising with the Sunday tabloid as other big brands consider their options.

The Guardian reports that a number of high profile names have announced they are considering pulling their advertising from News of the World. This comes after more damaging accusations levelled at the Sunday tabloid – it’s been claimed that relatives of the victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London may have been targeted by phone hackers. The latest accusation comes in the same week as the revelation the mobile phone of Milly Dowler may have been hacked into.

The companies considering pulling their advertisements from News of the World include Ford, N-Power, Halifax and the mobile phone companies T-Mobile and Orange. Other companies told The Guardian they would wait until the outcome of the police investigation before making any decisions. The growing backlash against the paper has lead to calls for boycotts, pressure campaigns on advertisers and renewed calls for Rupert Murdoc’s bid to take over BSkyB to be put on hold until the investigation is over. There have been additional calls for a public enquiry while others have argued the hacking scandals proves the need for stronger and more effective regulation.

Updated: Supermarkets Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco as well as Coca Cola (the UK Arm) and Procter and Gamble are also reviewing their advertising with the News of the World reports The Guardian. Meanwhile the paper also claims that Ford, Halifax, Vauxhall and Virgin Holidays have all pulled their ads from this Sunday’s edition of the News of the World.